My brother and I just bought a friends collection of cast iron and split it up. The pan was seasoned but years and years ago. It was made in the 20's and had a red rust tint under the seasoning. I put it a lye bath scrubbed the gunk off and then put in 50/50 vinegar and water to neutralize the lye and remove the rust. I gave it a light going over with steel wool and 3 coats of flax seed oil at 500°. I've redone around 30 pans recently and have more to go.
Dave, I'll bet that Black Velvet isn't around any more. Look it up on Ebay sometime and I think you will be shocked at what some of those big pans are going for.
I found a very old muffin/gem pan last week that is pitted. I'm going to set up an electrolysis tank and see how it performs.
It depends on how much built up seasoning is on them. Normally 1 time through the cleaning cycle pretty well cleans everything off.
